Removing lacquer

[Mamos]

Hi All

I love the look of an un-lacquered sax.

I have a very shiny sax and would like it to be a lot less shiny

Is there a way of speeding up the ageing process without a complete dis-assemble and chemical strip.

mamos

[daveysaxboy]

No there's not.You could strip the bell,neck but would look odd.I have stripped about 6 sax's but just the body,neck.Never done the keywork.i use NITROMORS,green tin.My stripping days are over nowIf you dismantle ya sax you got to no how to put it back againgood luck but watch what ya doing.

[half diminished]

It's a big step to strip all the lacquer off and i would guess that it needs to be done well or it will look dreadful.

[daveysaxboy]

It's a big step to strip all the lacquer off and i would guess that it needs to be done well or it will look dreadful.

Just stripping the whole body and neck is very easy.The Nitromors is strong stuff.The hard part is building the sax back to a good set up again.Many sax's just have the body,neck bare brass with plated keys or lac key's.

[Mamos]

Thanks dave

I think i will leave it then

mamos

[daveysaxboy]

Thanks dave

I think i will leave it then

mamos

Wise choice.Just wait till you get a new horn in the future and go for a unlacquered model.

[RobatBlueRock]

If you look at the P-muriat section on BIRDMAN's studiosaxophones site you will find a sax with an UL body+neck but if you look carefully you will see the key-work is actually still lacquered but in a matt finish. I think this looks much better than the shiney keywork with a UL body, and still provides a good degree of protection.
I have just experimented with Ronseal's 'Diamond Hard' matt clear varnish (water based acrylic so won't react with the existing lacquer) on my gash/recently serviced Bently sop keywork and it works well.
I have put a very thin and even coat on just the main large surface areas of the key-work ie the pad cups, main stack rods etc.
I am still waiting for my UL BW Tenor which will also still have bright keywork, I think I will do the same with this rather than stripping the whole thing down to de-lacquer the key-work completely and risk not getting it back together properly.
Additionally, I intend to de-lacquer the larger, easy to remove parts like the stack-guard and large cup-guards.
Using the matt on just the 'obvious' bits is just enough to take it down a notch and looks much less in-yer-face.

Rob

[daveysaxboy]

If you look at the P-muriat section on BIRDMAN's studiosaxophones site you will find a sax with an UL body+neck but if you look carefully you will see the key-work is actually still lacquered but in a matt finish. I think this looks much better than the shiney keywork with a UL body, and still provides a good degree of protection.
I have just experimented with Ronseal's 'Diamond Hard' matt clear varnish (water based acrylic so won't react with the existing lacquer) on my gash/recently serviced Bently sop keywork and it works well.
I have put a very thin and even coat on just the main large surface areas of the key-work ie the pad cups, main stack rods etc.
I am still waiting for my UL BW Tenor which will also still have bright keywork, I think I will do the same with this rather than stripping the whole thing down to de-lacquer the key-work completely and risk not getting it back together properly.
Additionally, I intend to de-lacquer the larger, easy to remove parts like the stack-guard and large cup-guards.
Using the matt on just the 'obvious' bits is just enough to take it down a notch and looks much less in-yer-face.

Rob

varnish on your sax!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RobatBlueRock]

Well, it's already got clear varnish/lacquer on the keywork... So it's just a case of an additional thin coat, except this time it's matt instead of gloss.
The body+neck will be supplied UL from the factory.

I'd have preferred the key-work UL as well, but we couldn't get them to do that. Probably 'too hard basket' for a budget instrument like the BW.
I have considered UL'ing the key-work, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with stripping it down and re-set-up etc. There are sections that could be easily removed, UL'd, then replaced without any real problems, but for it to look right you'd have to do the whole lot. So the matt lacquer option is easier since it can be applied to cups etc carefully with a model painting brush without removing anything.

[Azzimuth]

Hi, Would caustic soda work to strip lacquer? Just a thought.

Steve